DCHP-1 Online
buffalo runner Hist. 
1 a horse or pony trained for hunting buffalo.
See also: buffalo horse buffalo pony buffalo racer runner ((1)) (def. 2a)
- 1832 Every spring and fall some hundreds of "Freemen," principally French, half-breeds, were with their families accustomed to leave the Settlement for the plains, taking with them their favorite "Buffalo Runners."
- 1893 . . . the men mount on their well-trained horses, which are justly called "buffalo runners."
- 1952 The price of a good buffalo runner never fell below this figure in forty years and was sometimes as much as $250.
- 1955 The ideal buffalo runner was a male, at least 8 years of age, fully developed, solidly built, broad backed, long winded, and sure footed.
2 a mounted man, especially a Métis, who took part in a buffalo run (def. 1).
See also: buffalo run (def. 1) Metis
- 1873 (1904) My brother justices [included] two Hudson Bay officials and three half-breed buffalo-runners. . . .
- 1908 Hosts of freeman--half-breed trappers and buffalo runners--made this their headquarters, refusing allegiance to either company and selling their hunt to the highest bidder.
- 1832 Every spring and fall some hundreds of "Freemen," principally French, half-breeds, were with their families accustomed to leave the Settlement for the plains, taking with them their favorite "Buffalo Runners."